


Words and Actions

by serafina19



Category: Agent Carter (TV)
Genre: F/M, Spoilers for Season 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-10
Updated: 2016-03-10
Packaged: 2018-05-25 20:34:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6209137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/serafina19/pseuds/serafina19
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When it came to Agent Peggy Carter, actions definitely spoke louder than words. That meant Daniel Sousa often found himself struggling to determine her true feelings, but one day, one look changes everything.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Words and Actions

When it came to Agent Peggy Carter, actions definitely spoke louder than words. It didn’t take long for Daniel to understand why that was the case, especially at the SSR. Last year, she had tried to tell everyone Howard Stark wasn’t a traitor, but everyone instantly disregarded her opinion.

That wasn’t a unique occasion, as her opinion was never enough to convince Chief Dooley or Agent Thompson of the truth. Or at least, not initially. Dooley did indulge her at times, but for the most part, the guys only saw her as someone who could file papers, take lunch orders, or answer phone calls.

Daniel wanted to change that, but it wasn’t like his words had any more merit with the guys. His intentions did reach Carter, but while she appreciated them, she insisted she could take care of herself.

And that she did with every step of her rogue mission. So much that it was difficult for Daniel to determine where he really stood with Peggy last year. True, she trusted Daniel to some extent, because when she needed to clue in the SSR, it was his phone that rang. But he still liked to think that he could have provided her better back-up than Stark’s butler. Carter insisted that she was protecting Daniel, giving him plausible deniability, but that decision led him to believe the worst. It caused him to doubt the one ally he thought he had in the SSR.

The words he told her during her interrogation, they didn’t faze her much. Daniel wished that they had similar consequences on him. But it wasn’t like he could ignore the overwhelming amount of evidence against her. Or at least, that was how he justified his behaviour before discovering that the SSR had everything wrong.

They wanted to make things right, but their earlier doubts led to Chief Dooley having to sacrifice his life to ensure the case could move forward. From that moment, they didn’t look back and resolved to work as a team. For the most part, it seemed to work, minus Daniel’s unfortunate exposure to the gas.

It sure wasn’t a picnic waking up after that experience, but his physical state paled compared to the realization of what he had done under the gas’ influence. Daniel couldn’t believe that anything would cause him to hit Peggy (Thompson was another matter), but in true Peggy Carter fashion, she shrugged it off, believing in his character, knowing that he wasn’t himself.

And suddenly, Daniel realized why he was really hurt by her so-called betrayal. How the teasing that he got from the guys about Peggy wasn’t entirely unwarranted.

How could he not be attracted to her? She believed in him like he believed in her. They stood up for each other, treated each other like human beings. Furthermore, while most men talked a big game, she went out of her way to do the right thing, not caring about the spotlight or the promotion that would never come her way.

_I know my value_ , she had said once.

So did Daniel, which was probably why he took her response to his drink offer harder than he should have. Because he didn’t need the guys to tell him that he didn’t have a shot with Peggy. She was someone who lived through her work, going mission to mission without much thought to a social life.

Not to mention that Captain America’s name kept popping up during the Stark case. That couldn’t have been easy on Peggy, as Daniel had seen her mourning him a few months ago. Considering Captain Rogers’ impact on the war, and the fact Daniel genuinely cared about Peggy, professionally and personally, he owed her the time she needed to put Rogers’ memory behind her.

But from that day, it became harder to work with Peggy. Daniel felt his poker face starting to slip around her, and it was only a matter of time before he would say something that he regretted. So when Thompson recommended Daniel to run the new SSR offices in Los Angeles, he left New York, hoping for a fresh start.

That didn’t mean the transition didn’t have its share of bumps, starting with ignoring calls from Carter shortly after he set up everything in LA. It was for the best, he told himself, as eventually she would stop calling and the pain of leaving behind the woman who he had undoubtedly fallen for would begin to subside.

Things started to get easier after he met Violet, someone who looked at him with admiration and respect. If Daniel had to be honest, he really thought that he had moved on, that he loved Violet back.

That was before Thompson’s questionable sense of humour led to him blindsiding Daniel by sending Carter to Los Angeles. Out of all the New York agents, Daniel never thought she would be sent here to help him, but the moment he first saw her in the new SSR offices, it was like time stood still. And as he took note of the way she looked at him, it wasn’t long before Daniel realized that he did actually have a chance, and he had thrown it away.

At least the case would serve as a fortunate distraction, especially since he bought the ring for Violet last week. After all, it wasn’t like working with Carter on one case was going to change anything between them.

That was the lie he told himself, the lie that Rose instantly called him on. Not that he blamed her, because it didn’t take long for the telltale signs of his feelings to come back.

Holding back his disappointment while Dr. Wilkes flirted with Peggy.

Denting filing cabinets in his office because she was in danger and there wasn’t anything he could do.

Full-blown worry, as his uncertainty of whether she survived the blast at Isodyne Energy grew. Utter relief when she walked out, stunned but okay.

The events of that night were enough to delay giving the ring to Violet, and when it disappeared the next time he tried to propose, Daniel should have accepted it as the sign it was. But he knew Dr. Wilkes and Peggy were getting closer, and Daniel couldn’t ignore the feeling that he had missed his chance with her. So he let his intentions slip as he tried to find the ring in the couch, and Violet agreed to marry him.

Him.

The guy who should not have any right to complain when a beautiful nurse loves him. The guy who can’t stop thinking about a woman who will likely never slow down enough to consider having relationships outside of acquaintances and co-workers.

For awhile, it felt like a wasted use of energy, a helpless sense of déjà vu, until he saw Peggy fall at the Roxxon facility and get impaled. That moment led to the first of many dominos falling, causing facets of his world to come crumbling down. Violet saw the truth that night, not that he tried to hide it from her. But when Violet confronted him about his feelings for Peggy, he knew that she deserved his honesty, even if he was too cowardly to tell Peggy the same.

Although, it wasn’t long before that changed too. All this time, Daniel was grateful to be on the team for this mission, instead of being _safe_ on the sidelines. It was exactly where he wanted to be, especially after Violet called off the engagement. He intended to take a page from Peggy’s book and insert himself in the job, hoping that if they stopped Whitney Frost, then at least he had done something right.

But by spending more time working, he spends more time with Peggy, and she somehow knows exactly what buttons to push to get him to tell her the reason Violet had left him. Her subsequent apology was expected, however, the way she provided him comfort by taking his hand in hers wasn’t.

For a second, he saw a light of hope, ignoring that it was probably too quick to move on, even if it technically felt like they were moving backwards, trying to make up for lost time. The strangest part about this moment was that she doesn’t back away from his advances. In fact, she’s moving closer to him too.

If not for a body falling on the van, effectively bringing them back to reality, he really thought that he would have kissed her. Part of him wished that he had, because when he told Peggy that they should talk, deep down, he knew that wasn’t likely to happen.

Right now, they had to be focused on the mission and they couldn’t afford any changes in their relationship. While he understood that, he also knew that his feelings for her had officially re-surfaced and everyone knew it. Peggy probably knew too.

_Dispassionate, Chief. Your words._

But he didn’t feel a single shred of regret in doing something that saved her life. Maybe he was thrown by Wilkes threatening to shoot Peggy, but Daniel couldn't find another option in the time he had to make the decision. And there was no way that he could lose her again. The feeling of coming to Los Angeles without her was almost unbearable. Watching her fall on the rebar scared the life out of him. Even though this mission had cost him plenty already, failing to protect Peggy would have been his biggest regret.

She meant that much to him, and honestly, even if she only saw him as a colleague, he meant something to her. So he dared to ask what she would have done in his position. He waited for her usual comeback, but instead, that question was met with silence.

In fact, Daniel never got his answer. Thompson had inserted himself in their conversation with a stupid quip and Peggy took the save in stride. But as she walked away, Daniel felt himself pause. Normally, Peggy didn’t shy away from sharing her opinion when she didn’t care about someone or when she had to point a prove. Maybe there was a chance that her silence meant that things weren’t as strained as he thought.

However, that didn’t stop Peggy from being Peggy, so when she ran into a building that could blow up any second to save Wilkes, it was another reality check for Daniel. And maybe, he tells himself again, it’s for the best.

Because win or lose, the end of the mission was coming. And there was little doubt that she would return to New York when that moment came. If the presence of Stark and the Jarvises, not to mention the SSR office in LA, wasn’t enough to entice her to stay, there was no way that whatever was brewing between them would be enough.

It was a hard realization, but Daniel tried to focus on the positive, and tell her that he was grateful to work with her again. In fact, the photo at Manfredi’s place was as much a souvenir for him as it was for her. A reminder of when he was most satisfied with what he did for a living, of who brought out the best in him, even when the chips were down.

He wasn’t sure whether or not that included a self-sacrificing nature, but squabbling over who was going to manually shut down the rift generator seemed like a waste of time. Merely unproductive words over who had the most bravado. Granted, Daniel wasn’t trying to prove anything to anyone, it was just the right thing to do. If he succeeded, he would keep the world safe, keep everyone here safe. If he didn’t, well, he could leave this earth knowing that he had made a difference. That he had kept her safe, even if she never asked him.

Therefore, it was fitting that she didn’t shy away from approaching the danger area, as it turned out that even Daniel had underestimated her stubbornness and her resiliency to protect her friends. From what he could tell, she didn’t hesitate to leave the group to grab the hose when it looked like it was curtains for him. Stark, Wilkes and Thompson soon followed her lead, but unsurprisingly, it wasn’t enough.

Daniel ordered her to back down, but Peggy refused. Just this once, he wanted her to listen to him. Then something popped into his mind.

_Are you suggesting that my personal feelings might interfere with the mission?_

It wasn’t easy for Daniel to talk about how close Peggy got to Dr. Wilkes, but after he betrayed them, even if zero matter was to blame, Daniel didn’t want to take any chances. Even if it had led to her practically accusing him of being a hypocrite.

Because after that, he asked the question that had left Peggy Carter speechless, and he wanted nothing more than to see her eyes right now. To see how this instance of her familiar conviction contradicted the very thing she accused him of a few days ago.

For while Daniel wasn’t staring down the barrel of a gun, she was still putting her life at risk to save him without a real plan to close the rift. Fortunately for both of them, someone on their team did manage to find a way to close the rift. Daniel didn't hear how it happened, but he didn’t care because it had worked. Then again, a warning would have been nice, as once the rift closed, regular gravity kicked back in, causing Daniel to hit his head hard on the ground.

The impact probably should have knocked him out, but Daniel was forever grateful that it hadn’t. For when he turned around and met Peggy’s eyes, his suspicions were confirmed. She wasn’t just saving a friend, she was saving _him_.

Before his head hit the pavement again, this time out of exhaustion, he did his best to remember that look. Remember the mix of fear and relief in her eyes because of how close he had come to being sucked into the rift. There was something else there, something that felt similar to the way he probably looked at her as she walked out of Isodyne. That was something he had never seen her show before, but he knew that it meant as much as what she had done.

It was then he realized that, as cohesively as they worked together, there was too much unsaid between them. Before, Daniel had struggled with reading Peggy Carter, but that wasn’t the case anymore. When he woke up at home, he knew that he had to convince her to stay, no matter what it took.

The next day, he continued his daily routine at the SSR, grateful that he had managed to avoid a head injury. He hadn’t seen Peggy since the rift closed, but he knew she would come to the SSR to officially close the case.

To her, this visit would represent her last visit to the Los Angeles SSR offices, as there still wasn't any indication that she had changed her plans to fly back to New York with Thompson.

However, to him, they were finally going to have that talk that they managed to avoid for so long. They never had that drink in New York, and they only seemed to talk about personal matters when things were hard. That had to change. Daniel had let her leave his life once, and there was no way that he was going to let that happen again after everything he had seen in the last few weeks.

He knew that he had to tread carefully though, because he wasn’t playing this safe. And while words are capable of delivering the truths or courage that people need to act, other times, regardless of intention, they can be easily misunderstood. So even though Daniel knew exactly what he wanted to say, he couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous, because he needed this to work. Ana Jarvis had just called him, confirming that the SSR offices was Peggy’s last stop before the airport.

Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, remembering the way she had looked at him since coming to Los Angeles.

The way that she smiled at him when they met eyes for the first time in months.

_Hello… Chief._

The way her sympathetic nature kicked in, knowing that she was the reason that Violet had left him.

_I’m so sorry… truly._

The way she stopped worrying about everything that had gone wrong with her to touch his wound from the beating Masters’ guys had given him.

_What did you get into?_

Finally, he reminded himself again of the look she gave him after the rift was closed. That time, there was no shield to hide her feelings, so for once, he saw everything he needed to know. She could blame exhaustion, but that wasn’t going to be enough to persuade his opinion otherwise.

“Is everything okay, Chief?”

Hearing Peggy’s voice caused his eyes to pop open. “Yeah, sorry,” he said. “C’mon in.”

She obliged him, sitting down across from him to fill out the paperwork. As they re-lived some of the notable moments from the case, it became obvious that she had no intention of having that talk.

Instead, she went straight to compliments as she started to head for the exit. She rose from her seat, about to say something, but Daniel quickly interjected, knowing he couldn’t wait any longer. When he mentioned the rift, he figured that she would anticipate a thank you, so he threw her with what he said next.

“Actually, I was going to say you messed up. Big.”

It was harder to hold back his grin than he thought on the last word. For while he knew what he was doing, her reaction was something to see. Peggy didn’t get confused often, so it was entertaining to see that he had the upper hand for once.

Daniel was particularly proud of his use of _reckless_ , as she took great offence to that. He felt his indifference slip as he kept talking, with little doubt his expression was doing the same. But it was working, the twisted, unconventional way of having this talk without actually saying anything that most people say during this talk. That didn’t matter though, because she was still here, hearing him out.

By the time he left his chair, she had probably caught on, but he stuck to the plan, using the desk to walk closer to her, call her a hypocrite before dropping the last signs of his act.

Peggy’s expression changed, as he could tell she knew what he was doing now. Still, he couldn’t resist saying, “Nothing to say? No quick comeback?”

Technically, for once, she didn’t have a verbal comeback ready. But the way she kissed him was a very worthy substitute, only amplified by the fact there was no regret in her eyes when they met his before she kissed him again.

After all, Peggy Carter was always a woman of action. And Daniel loved her for it.

 

**~End~**


End file.
